and we will do whatever it takes to serve our veterans as well as they have served us. this is a sacred trust. that's why we've already played one of the largest increases for veterans in decades. we're treating the signature wounds of today's wars. posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. while providing the health care and benefits that all of our veterans have earned. and we're funding a post-9/11 g.i. bill that helps our veterans and their families pursue the dream of a college education. just as the g.i. bill helped those who fought world war ii, including my grandfather, become the backbone of our middle class, so today's service men and women must have the chance to apply their gifts to expand the american economy. as part of ending a war responsibly is standing by those who have fought it. two weeks ago, america's final combat brigade in iraq, the army's 4th stryker brigade, journeyed home in the predawn darkness. thousands of soldiers and hundreds of vehicles made the trip from baghdad. the last of them passing into kuwait in the early morning